More cellphone towers needed on P.E.I. to prevent dropped calls, minister says

If you've ever been frustrated when a cellphone call randomly cuts out on Prince Edward Island, this question period was for you.

During Thursday's session of the P.E.I. legislature, Liberal MLA Robert Henderson complained about how many dropped calls he experiences when driving across the province to his O'Leary-Inverness district.

He said the issue seems to be getting worse, adding at one point that people in some rural parts of P.E.I. "have to stand like a flamingo" on top of their kitchen tables to get cell service.

"This government is responsible to ensure Islanders have responsible telecommunications in this province," Henderson said after some laughter from other MLAs about his flamingo comment.

"What are you doing to ensure that Islanders get what they pay for?"

P.E.I.'s minister of economic development, innovation and trade replied that poor cell reception is a major issue across the Island. Gilles Arsenault said government officials have met with phone companies and the Canadian Telecommunications Association (CTA) about the problem.

"I'm on the road like you every day and it is really frustrating," he told Henderson.

Arsenault later added that the government has been meeting specifically with Telus, a major Canadian telecom service that is P.E.I.'s primary provider and has a contract with government.

We need to be able to address that to make sure that our communications system is better for all Islanders.— Gilles Arsenault

"We were actually not satisfied with the meeting that we had with them," he said. "We also indicated to them that we know we're a small fish in the pond here, but we need services."

Arsenault said there are more meetings to come with cell companies and the CTA in the coming weeks to press the issue and get answers on P.E.I.'s dropped-calls problem.

'We need to have more towers'

In an interview with CBC News after question period, Arsenault said there's been a spike in the number of people complaining to government about dropped calls — especially in the last year or so.

He said there are two basic reasons for the dropped-call issue: too much demand, and the fact that P.E.I.'s cellphone towers are aging out.

"The backbone is on the 4G system, where we're right now moving on to a 5[G]," he said, adding that "there is congestion on some of the towers."

Arsenault said cell providers and government officials have data on the number of dropped calls that could be provided to the public at some point. A spokesperson with the province later said government does not have that data.

The minister said he was not aware of any 911 calls being dropped, saying that's "not problematic at all."

Arsenault said the province is aware of some "dead-zone areas" on P.E.I. where calls frequently drop, listing new ones that have been identified in Cornwall and in Charlottetown's Lower Malpeque Road area.

"We need to have more towers, because more and more what we're seeing is in very common areas where we never had dropped calls before that we have dropped calls now," he said.

"We need to be able to address that to make sure that our communications system is better for all Islanders."

Saying he's "quite frustrated" that towers can't go up immediately, Arsenault added that he's had good conversations with telecom companies who tell him it will get better.